Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate Review

Another year brings with it another Musou for fans to hack and slash their way through. Is Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate worth the mindless slaughter, or should you pick up something else? Check out our review and find out.

Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate Review

Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate follows the stories of multiple characters from the Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, and Warriors Orochi series. At the start of the game, there is a mysterious force that brings the various characters into the same world. You get to choose from a few of these characters at the start, and as you progress, you unlock many many more. At first, it is suspected that Nobunaga Oda is the one to blame, but after beating him, you find out that there is something else going on.

Artifacts of power known as Orochi Bracelets have mysteriously appeared, giving these warriors god-like abilities. Certain characters like Zhao Yun can use this bracelet to transform himself into a stronger warrior, sort of akin to Super Saiyan. You are tasked with retrieving these bracelets before they can be used for evil means. To do this, the Gods above grant you magic to help you defeat whatever enemy you come across. Ares, Zeus, Wukong, Aphrodite, and Loki all make appearances, among other Gods.

The combat in Warriors Orochi 4 is similar to any other Warriors game. You pick a character to play (three characters in this game) and become a one-person army. You spam attack and build up massive combos in each level, annihilating weaker enemies in one or two shots. Enemy officers will put up more of a challenge, but only named characters will actually harm you. Even on normal difficulty, you can bite off a bit much and drop to low HP fairly quickly. I never died, but I did have all three of my characters in red HP when I first fought Lu Bu.

The newest addition to combat is the magic system. You have a new bar that fills up, and you can use that to launch small magic attacks, strong magic attacks, and special magic attacks. These skills bring your kill counts up by a large margin. Some of them have you riding a flaming boar into battle, calling down Thor’s hammer, or just using a massive energy blast. My favorite was one that caused a whirlpool around my character and absorbed enemies into me. The best part is that they work on enemy officers as well; they can be caught up in the whirlpool just as easily as a grunt.

With over 170 characters to unlock, you will find plenty to do. The simple fact is though when you find someone who works, you won’t switch characters that often. It isn’t worth gambling on a new character who might not have magic you like or a special attack you don’t like. The officers you aren’t using can be sent on expeditions to level up and collect new weapons. You can only send a handful of them, but it beats leaving them there doing nothing. They can also be brought as support characters for your missions. On occasion, support members will launch an attack or defend you from hits while on a mission.

In total, you can bring seven characters into battle with you, only three of which are active in combat. The general idea is to bring a team that has one or multiple special team combos. The combos will grant you buffs during the battle for hitting 300 kills, start you off with a buff, or make sure you unity magic is filled right away. For instance, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei will start you with a full unity magic bar. You then have four free slots to build another combo if you would like. It isn’t game-changing, but it is nevertheless a helpful addition.

After each battle, you will gain experience for your fighters and get new weapons and cash. Weapons can come with elements or powers on them, or they can be blank, leaving you to upgrade them yourself. In the later stages of the game, you can build some ridiculously powerful weapons with your element currency. Experience is used to buff your character’s HP, defense, attack, and other things like one more attack in a combo. Cash upgrade the camp, which enhances all characters, or it can be exchanged for weapon elements.

Like most Warriors games, it gets repetitive quickly. If you are looking for something new on that front, you won’t find it here. I am happy to report I didn’t have any frame drops even with upwards of 50 units on screen. One annoying thing is when you kill certain officers or gate captains. After they die, you have to wait for a conversation before a gate or new objective pops up. These can last upwards of a minute, and you are just sitting there riding your horse until it is over.

At this point, you are most likely either in or out when it comes to the series. Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate is a fun Warriors game, but won’t change your mind on the genre.

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